SPHINX 101 - Changelog Analog Realism https://analogrealism.com ======================================= v1.6.0 - 2026-07-29 - Transformer Physics, Stability, Precision Improved: - Transformers now respond to frequency the way real iron does. The core is driven by the time integral of the applied voltage rather than the voltage itself, so a low note pushes the core far harder than a high note at the same level. Harmonic content is strongest at the bottom and falls away toward the top, instead of sitting flat across the band. - Transformer harmonic voicing restored and refined. The second-harmonic content that gives the midband its presence, definition and instrument separation is at full strength across the band, with the low end keeping the extra weight the new physics gives it. - Power supply ripple is now identical at every sample rate and oversampling setting. Previously the ripple amplitude drifted by up to 12 dB across the supported grid. - EQ inductors now have real magnetic memory. The core follows a full hysteresis loop rather than a one-way curve, so the inductance depends on where the signal has been, not just where it is now. - Ground return and power rail modelling reworked. The chassis return current now carries the signal fundamental rather than only its even harmonics, matching how a real shared ground couples between stages. - Thermal self-heating now responds to program material in real time. Component parameters - transformer permeability, transistor bias voltage, tube transconductance - shift subtly with accumulated heat, the way a real console settles into its operating character during a session. - Plugin warm-up time reduced to near-instant. A fresh instance reaches full operating character in under a second instead of the previous several seconds. - Grid-current blocking on tube stages reacts faster and harder. A loud transient now drives the grid into realistic bias shift within milliseconds, with recovery over about 100 ms - matching real coupling capacitor behavior. - Tube thermal sag direction corrected - warm tubes now slightly reduce gain instead of increasing it, matching the physics of real vacuum tube circuits. - Noise model extended to full audio bandwidth. The 1/f noise floor now tracks correctly to the highest frequencies instead of flattening at the top of the spectrum. - Stereo crosstalk levels refined for a better balance between audible character and realistic magnitude across all three console topologies. - Cross-platform precision. Every per-sample library math call on the audio path has been replaced with a deterministic equivalent. Mac and Windows builds produce identical output. - Fifteen simultaneous analog modeling mechanisms, up from twelve. Added program-responsive noise floor, tube transient sag, and inter-transformer magnetic coupling. - Test suite expanded and hardened with 2,420 measurements across 13 suites, zero failures. Output transformer phase-response probe added to the automated release gate. - Re-designed User Manual content and sectioning. - Improved Factory Presets to become more inspiring starting points. Fixed: - All module circuit selectors (EQ type, compressor type, filter type, transformer model, HF mode) now switch click-free. Previously, switching mid-program could produce an audible discontinuity. - Preset loading is now click-free. A brief crossfade completes before new settings apply. - Output termination switching (600/150/Open) now transitions smoothly instead of stepping the filter coefficients. - Warm-up state no longer resets when the host stops and restarts transport, or when the oversampling rate changes. Once the console is warm, it stays warm. - Compressor and detector envelopes no longer briefly re-attack after an oversampling change under heavy gain reduction. - HF soft clipper crossover frequency now transitions smoothly under automation. Previously, rapid automation of the crossover could produce faint stepping artifacts. - Linked compressor mode on the fourth topology now correctly detects anti-phase stereo content that was previously invisible to the detector. - GUI improvements - new transformer graphics, improved overall clarity, knob animation fixes. - GUI popup guide could permanently limit its shown content from user-selected GUI size changes. Now fixed. - GUI "Output termination" button renamed from TERM to OHM for clarity. v1.5.2 - 2026-07-23 - Deep Physics, New Controls, Auth Fix Added: - Mains frequency selector (50 Hz / 60 Hz) into the top bar - switches the power supply model between European 100 Hz and American 120 Hz full-wave ripple. Subtle character difference on fade tails and quiet passages. Default is 50 Hz. - Output termination selector (600 / 150 / Open) in the top bar - changes how the output transformer sees its load. 600 is the studio standard (default). 150 is heavier loading with tighter bass. Open lets the transformer ring freely for maximum iron character. - Circuit selector click areas on all module faceplates - click the circuit name labels directly instead of turning the rotary switch. Works on Filter, Sub Comp, HF Comp, HF SoftClip, Compressor, EQ, and both transformers. - Signal-dependent noise floor - shot noise in the drive transistors, tubes, and compressor gain elements now scales with signal current. The noise floor breathes with program level instead of sitting at a fixed amplitude. - Capacitor dielectric absorption on coupling stages - after DC transients, coupling capacitors slowly re-release a fraction of their stored charge. Per-topology fractions match real component types (film caps on SLL, electrolytic on Nevy). - Grid-current blocking distortion on tube stages - loud asymmetric transients push the tube grid positive, causing a momentary negative bias shift and brief gain reduction. The classic "tube sag after a loud hit" effect. - Inter-transformer magnetic coupling - a small fraction of the input transformer's magnetization state feeds into the output transformer's applied field, the way fringing flux couples between iron cores mounted on the same chassis. Improved: - Pultey EQ now uses separate boost and cut signal paths with different Q values - the famous simultaneous boost/cut interaction emerges naturally from the circuit topology instead of a static approximation. The classic shelf-plus-scoop is now physically real. - Nevy compressor gain element replaced with a four-diode Shockley bridge model - produces authentic even-harmonic content from per-diode manufacturing variation that the previous polynomial approximation could not generate. - EQ inductor saturation now uses Jiles-Atherton magnetic modeling - the same physics engine as the transformers. Inductance swings with signal level, shifting the resonant frequency under heavy boost. Six inductor instances across three bands. - Power supply model completed - the ripple waveform now uses a physical reservoir capacitor with conduction-window gating (per-topology rectifier angles), load-modulated discharge depth, and differential per-channel sag. Left and right channels interact with the supply independently under asymmetric stereo program. - Ground-return injection - total bus current through per-topology ground impedance creates a subliminal program-correlated bus tone, the shared-ground character of real console wiring. - Physical warm-up and thermal self-heating tendency now shortened as much as possible. The plugin starts slightly "cold" and settles into its operating character over the first minute, exactly like powering on a real console. Component parameters (transformer permeability, transistor bias, tube transconductance) shift subtly with accumulated program heat. - Transformer flux walk strengthened to first-principles scale - the bias-coupling mechanism is now audibly program-responsive on sustained asymmetric material. - SLL topology now models Class-AB crossover emphasis - subtle odd-harmonic texture at low signal levels from the push-pull dead band, invisible at the operating sweet spot. - Rail consumer clamps replaced with smooth asymptotes on seven internal sites - extreme-drive behavior compresses rather than freezing. - Vacuum diode detector restored to canonical Child-Langmuir square-law response - transient detection is grabbier and more faithful to hardware variable-mu character. - Sub Comp and HF Comp per-channel shelves completed - unlinked (L/R) mode now applies truly independent gain reduction per channel, matching the popup guide description. - Circuit switching now uses an extended mute-through-swap crossfade for seamless topology transitions with no audible level jumps. - Cross-platform deterministic math on all per-sample transcendentals. - Test coverage expanded to over 2,400 measurements with mechanism-specific verification gates for all new physics. Fixed: - HFSoftClip Tube mode GR meters now react dynamically to signal content. The meter shows the shelf-cut depth weighted by live HF drive - dark in quiet passages, pulsing with HF transients, deeper with lower threshold. - Authorization activation reliability - in rare cases on certain host configurations, the plugin could display "Licensed" while the demo silence remained active until the next DAW restart. The activation state now publishes immediately and reliably across all hosts and platforms. - Output termination selector correctly cycles through all three states with distinct visual feedback. - Stale code comments and documentation claims corrected across the codebase - over thirty in-file comments updated to match current behavior. - User manual and popup guide updated for new controls, generalized harmonic descriptions, corrected parameter count, and mains-selectable ripple frequency. - Published test reports fixed - a couple of wrong names for listed results. v1.5.1 - 2026-07-20 - Big Signal Physics Improvements Added: - Side-chained dynamic modules' gain reductions now saturate correct THD amounts - harmonic distortion was too low previously. - NaN protection - improves stability against sudden corrupted audio data streams. - Routing buttons in plugin GUI are now click-sound free. Fixed: - Plugin instance creation variation seed was too large - harmonic behavior varied too much between Sphinx instances. Variations and component tolerance differences are now more realistic to differences between real-life hardware units. - PSU's microscopic voltage ripple logic corrected to more realistic rectifier harmonics. - VCA compressor distortion now scales correctly with gain reduction. - Transformers' even-harmonic content is now more program-responsive. - BJT transistors' operating point corrected to physics-accurate bias voltage. - JA transformer solver math corrected for improved numerical accuracy at the integration boundary. v1.5.0 - 2026-07-18 - New GUI Design & Improved Physics & Bug Fixes Added: - New GUI design. - Magnetic memory added to Output Transformer - both TXs now have time-based reactivity. - Power regulators from common hardware designs - TrueRail breathes more realistically as it sags/returns. Improved presence, 3D sound, and general response. - Real-life electric grid 50/60 Hz microscopic variations now feed circuits and components, bringing harmonics and increased chaotic randomness. Fixed: - Root cause of pop spikes on plugin instance load: DC voltage component was not properly initialized, causing a signal jump. - Documentation updates. - Backend improvements for memory handling. Multiple potential problem sources fixed for improved stability. v1.4.3 - 2026-07-16 - Click Fix & Universal Installers Added: - Universal Mac installers for AU (Silicon + Intel) and VST3 (Silicon + Intel). Old single-format installers kept available. Fixed: - Possible click noise when bypassing modules - signal path now has a 5 ms fade-in for state changes. v1.4.2 - 2026-07-14 - TrueRail Tweak Fixed: - Bypassed modules were still affecting the main voltage rail slightly - mechanical paths and voltage rails now have more realistic current separation. v1.4.1 - 2026-07-13 - Refcount Fix Fixed: - When both AU and VST3 plugins were loaded in the same session, they shared memory incorrectly and caused crash conditions. Now independent instances. v1.4.0 - 2026-07-13 - Performance & TrueRail Fixed: - Big improvements to responsiveness and loading times from further reduced unnecessary background tasks. - Improved voltage rail wiring and circuit physics. Completed circuits' and modules' interconnected wiring. Added voltage regulator circuits from real-life hardware. - Fixed crash-prone issues on more uncommon setups. v1.3.2 - 2026-07-10 - Memory Leak Fix Fixed: - Graphic LED elements were drawn using non-optimal methods, causing slowly accumulating memory usage and visual problems - now using a lighter image draw method. v1.3.1 - 2026-07-10 - Faster Visual Appearances Fixed: - Much faster plugin loading times and visual appearances - removed unnecessary background loading and re-loading tasks which caused multi-second wait times. v1.3.0 - 2026-07-09 - New Requested Features Added: - Channel L/R unlink buttons for dynamic modules - fully analog dual-path in split mode. - Dual Gain Reduction LED rows (L/R) for dynamic modules - shows independent channel GR amounts in split mode. - Preset manager inside the plugin. - Noise ON/OFF button for component-level background noise. Fixed: - Improved GUI touch areas for small buttons. - Small GUI tweaks and knob rotation fixes. - Documentation updates. v1.2.0 - 2026-07-02 - Mac VST3 Version Added: - First macOS VST3 version available - Apple Silicon and Intel formats. Fixed: - Small graphical GUI fixes. v1.1.3 - 2026-06-30 - Visual Fixes & Better Stability Fixed: - GUI knobs could become slow and laggy on some setups - knobs were doing unnecessary background work and filling up short memories, causing 2-4 s reaction times. - Improved support for slightly older PC processors to avoid plugin failing to start. - Other GUI visual fixes. v1.1.2 - 2026-06-28 - Visual Improvements Improved: - Increased contrast and better fonts for faceplate texts - much improved readability. - Improved plugin loading times from smaller compressed image files. - Faster switching between the two GUI skins - images no longer re-loaded on every switch. - Added a small fade-in on plugin load to avoid startup pops or clicks. Fixed: - Pop-up user guide showed different content lengths with different GUI size options - now sizes dynamically and shows all content. v1.1.1 - 2026-06-25 - Oversampling Enhancements & TrueRail Improvements Improved: - Oversampling now operates in minimum phase mode instead of linear phase. Linear phase had improved phase response but greater latency and pre-ringing artifacts - minimum phase preserves transients and punch. - TrueRail improvements: SLL main circuit sounds more real-life HiFi with more headroom and definition, while Nevy and especially Amok main circuits breathe and glue more, as expected from their hardware counterparts. - New report files and graphs for continuous transparency about the plugin's current state. v1.1.0 - 2026-06-22 - New Oversampling Improved: - Entire plugin audio signal path now wrapped in a single oversampler (input to output), instead of just the noisiest modules. Aliasing amounts dropped massively. Oversampling factor (2x, 4x, 8x, 16x) selectable to taste. Higher settings use more CPU. - Documentation updated to reflect new oversampling implementation. v1.0.5 - 2026-06-21 Fixed: - Oversampling documentation clarified - oversampling is forced only in modules that produce the most harmonics; less audible aliasing modules are not oversampled to save CPU. Next update will wrap the whole plugin in a single oversampler. - Test reports were giving partial result data, leading to incorrect published aliasing values - corrected and expanded for accuracy. - TrueRail had internal functions waiting to be enabled - module and part interconnection wiring is now more complete and interactive. v1.0.4 - 2026-06-20 Fixed: - Enabled all noise types for the noisiest components (VCA mainly) - some below-audible noise types were previously disabled; now all enabled for more consistent behavior and hardware feel. Added a new noise report for tracking this behavior over time. - Major documentation updates - corrected many inconsistencies. - Installer clean-up routine fixes. Improved: - Signal calculation differences between PC and Mac further reduced by enforcing the same math-type functions on both platforms. v1.0.3 - 2026-06-18 Improved: - Cross-platform floating-point harmonization (FMA-type enforcement) for internal calculations - reduced below-audible signal differences between PC and Mac. WIP. v1.0.2 - 2026-06-18 Fixed: - Architectural timing bug in rail current accumulation - current drawn from the input transformer and drive stage was lumped as a per-buffer bolus instead of being fed to the rail smoother at correct per-sample timing. Now handled by a central controller. - Popup sound at instance load managed with a short fade-in. - Documentation updates regarding SLL/Amok compressors and Amok topology using T5670 instead of 12AX7. - Images and website updated. v1.0.1 - 2026-06-16 - PC Fix Fixed: - PC version had a missing DLL related to activation encryption - plugin would not start. Now included in the package. - Mac version-bumped to match - no changes. v1.0.0 - 2026-06-16 Fixed: - Mac versions (Silicon + Intel) were missing a file that Homebrew-equipped macOS environments provided - without it the plugin would not start. Now included in the package. - PC version-bumped to match - no changes. v0.9.9 - 2026-06-06 Added: - Per-knob undo: holding ALT/OPTION and clicking any value knob returns it to its position before the latest change. Fixed: - Documentation fixes. v0.9.8 - 2026-06-06 Added: - Holding SHIFT while turning main input or output gain knob now compensates the other knob - quick way to test overdriving the input stage. - Double-clicking value knobs allows typing in values with keyboard. Improved: - Better-looking value fields over knobs. v0.9.7 - 2026-06-04 Added: - Windows VST3 and installer now signed. Note: SmartScreen reputation improves over time, so alerts become fewer - proceed by clicking "More Info" if prompted. Improved: - Updated URLs in plugin activation/deactivation popups. - Policy updates on website. v0.9.4-v0.9.6 - 2026-06-03 Added: - Mac Intel version - ported from Apple Silicon version (untested at time of release). - Massive improvements to internal oversampling - phase responses now correct. - More user-friendly install locations for all Installer Wizard files and documentation. - Social media channels launched: Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Discord, LinkedIn. Improved: - Improved Installer Wizard pre-cleanup routines for Mac and Windows. - Updated content for User Manual, in-app guide, installers, website, and social media. v0.9.3 - 2026-05-27 Improved: - Automation fixes - previously read-only, now also writes. - Apple AudioUnit Validation fixes. v0.9.2 - 2026-05-25 Added: - Windows VST3 support. Note: installer not yet signed - plugin may not be found automatically by DAW. - Full test result files now included with both Mac and Windows installers. Improved: - AutoGain intelligence fine-tuned for better accuracy. - User Guide and in-app guide updates. v0.9.1 - 2026-05-25 Added: - Better installer/uninstaller behavior. - Version number shown in activation popup (GUI). Improved: - Internal code structure improvements. v0.9.0 - 2026-05-25 Added: - First beta test version for Mac AU. Installer and plugin Apple-signed.